There is a uAvionix AV-30 in the 1956 C-172 I bought in February which I lease to a flying club I started. The AV-30 can be switched between AI or DG modes. The DG mode really needs an external magnetometer to be useful since the drift is quite high. The software needs updating, too.
So I recently bought:
Installing and configuring the AV-Link is relatively straightforward. Almost plug-and-play.
Updating the AV-30 software and post-update config/verification is also relatively straightforward.
Installing and configuring the Skysensor is similarly straightforward - with the exception of needing to remove the old light fixture and attach the wiring to the new fixture via a detachable connector.
Only the OAT and magnetometer require any new wiring and extra steps. None beyond my modest abilities, I think.
Only a couple special tools (e.g. torque screwdriver - optional) which I have or can acquire. But I cannot legally do any of these things of course.
So - after several a couple months of trying I am unable to find an A&P to do the work on any of these tasks. There were four in the Dakotas who said they could do the work but they are backed up and couldn't schedule anything for months. Importantly, none were in a position to provide even an estimate on when they could do the work. The best one offered sometime after Thanksgiving. I may end up taking him up on that.
It does not help that the A&Ps I try contacting rarely return phone messages or emails. I still stupidly leave messages but henceforth I will not bother. I'll call back until a human answers. Some, upon hearing the word "avionics" immediately opted out without inquiring more deeply into the actual requirements of the tasks. When I need an annual they would be happy to do that work.
I had plans to dump a bunch of money into the plane next year to make it IFR capable but it is becoming clear that there is no one I can think who could do it in the next six to nine months. At least not within a day's flight from KRAP. So probably scrap that idea.
I do not care to feel this helpless, and I had originally suggested the flying club consider an experimental but two of the four members at the time would not fly such planes. I now really regret not buying an experimental. I should have purchased an inexpensive plane like a CH-601 to get my fix in and not bothered with a flying club. Even better to build my own to avoid all dependencies.
Maybe I'll feel better in the morning and regret this post but at the moment I'm pretty damn frustrated.
So I recently bought:
- An external magnetometer (AV-Mag).
- A Wifi adapter (AV-Link) that allows the AV-30 software to be easily updated. It also accepts ADS-B traffic input over Wifi. Also enables a new mode to depict the traffic: MFD in addition to AI and DG.
- A wingtip nav light that contains a combo Wifi access point and ADS-B In receiver (Skysensor). It can feed traffic info to the above-mentioned AV-Link, thence to the AV-30. And weather and GPS position to a pilot's tablet computer or smart phone.
- An OAT probe so that the AV-30 can compute and display true airspeed and density altitude.
Installing and configuring the AV-Link is relatively straightforward. Almost plug-and-play.
Updating the AV-30 software and post-update config/verification is also relatively straightforward.
Installing and configuring the Skysensor is similarly straightforward - with the exception of needing to remove the old light fixture and attach the wiring to the new fixture via a detachable connector.
Only the OAT and magnetometer require any new wiring and extra steps. None beyond my modest abilities, I think.
Only a couple special tools (e.g. torque screwdriver - optional) which I have or can acquire. But I cannot legally do any of these things of course.
So - after several a couple months of trying I am unable to find an A&P to do the work on any of these tasks. There were four in the Dakotas who said they could do the work but they are backed up and couldn't schedule anything for months. Importantly, none were in a position to provide even an estimate on when they could do the work. The best one offered sometime after Thanksgiving. I may end up taking him up on that.
It does not help that the A&Ps I try contacting rarely return phone messages or emails. I still stupidly leave messages but henceforth I will not bother. I'll call back until a human answers. Some, upon hearing the word "avionics" immediately opted out without inquiring more deeply into the actual requirements of the tasks. When I need an annual they would be happy to do that work.
I had plans to dump a bunch of money into the plane next year to make it IFR capable but it is becoming clear that there is no one I can think who could do it in the next six to nine months. At least not within a day's flight from KRAP. So probably scrap that idea.
I do not care to feel this helpless, and I had originally suggested the flying club consider an experimental but two of the four members at the time would not fly such planes. I now really regret not buying an experimental. I should have purchased an inexpensive plane like a CH-601 to get my fix in and not bothered with a flying club. Even better to build my own to avoid all dependencies.
Maybe I'll feel better in the morning and regret this post but at the moment I'm pretty damn frustrated.